An alligator & red-eared sliders trying to climb bald cypress knees on the campus of UL Lafayette

http://www.suzannefredericqseaweedslab.com/.
An American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) try to climb the "knees" (pneumatophores) of a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) to dry off and bask in the sun. The alligator falls back in the water and crawls over the turtles to find a good spot. The turtles who try to climb are male individuals who are seemingly exhausted from having courted female turtles for hours in the water; they now have hardly any strength left for the climb, and one individual falls back in the water as well. The male turtles are recognizable by their long claws and their carapaces on which grow individuals of the green alga Basicladia crassa. Filmed in the swamp ("Cypress Lake") on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on April 6, 2009. Filmed by Suzanne Fredericq in Lafayette, Louisiana

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Cypress
• Lake
• University
• Louisiana
• Lafayette
• alligator
• red-eared
• slider
• swamp
• Taxodium
• behavior
• wildlife
• fun
• hunor

[canadianchillazz]

would the aligators eat the turtles ?

[rmpbklyn]

awww, the alligators look so cute

[drunkdivamariahcarey]

@JeePnoY1 too big for the mouth, but maybe

[koha12]

those are some big ass turtles lol

[ItzOnur]

now i know how the alligator snapping turtle appeared.... alligator+turtle...

[JeePnoY1]

those RES' are big... im raising 3 here in japan, u would think the alligators would try to eat da RES.